Articles Tagged with ''Conservation Stewardship Program''

When House and Senate negotiators sit down in coming days to start writing the final version of a new farm bill, they will find that many of their sharpest differences will be over how far they should reshape and fund conservation programs.

Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee are working to finalize key details of their draft farm bill, including changes to the Agriculture Risk Coverage program, with hopes of bringing the legislation out of committee sometime in June.

Republicans expect to advance a farm bill in the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday despite Democratic anger over its reforms to food stamps, but the legislation also would make significant changes in policy and funding across many other sections, including conservation, rural development and horticulture.

The future of the Conservation Stewardship Program, created in 2002 to steer farm payments toward environmental benefits, is in doubt as Congress prepares to debate a new farm bill.

WASHINGTON, Mar. 15, 2017 - Midwest farmers aren’t planting cover crops extensively enough to significantly reduce nutrient runoff in rivers and streams...